Demetria McCain, Lisa Rice

We are very excited to welcome Demetria McCain (U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development) and Lisa Rice (National Fair Housing Alliance) to our line up of expert speakers!

Demetria L. McCain, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO) at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)

At FHEO, McCain assists HUD’s efforts to eliminate housing discrimination, promote economic opportunity, and achieve diverse, inclusive communities.

McCain joins HUD following fifteen years of service, with five as president, at the Inclusive Communities Project (ICP), a Dallas, TX-based affordable fair housing nonprofit. Prior to becoming president, she oversaw operations, communications and ICP’s Mobility Assistance Program, a housing mobility program that helps housing choice voucher holders exercise their fair housing rights. Conceived by Demetria, ICP’s “Voices for Opportunity” initiative has provided advocacy training to low-income renters and neighborhood groups of color.

Before joining ICP, McCain worked on USDA Section 515 rural multifamily housing matters at the National Housing Law. She was also a staff attorney for the Neighborhood Legal Services Program of Washington, D.C., assigned to the southeast office, where her portfolio primarily included landlord-tenant matters for low-income renters in private and public housing. She has taught, as an adjunct instructor, a Fair Housing and Homelessness course to undergraduate Coppin State University students.

McCain brings dual vantage points to FHEO after having spent years assisting both housing choice voucher holders who sought low-poverty well-resourced housing options and neighborhood groups in underserved communities of color who sought more equitable distribution of resources and services.  McCain has sat on several local and national nonprofit boards and is a sought-after panelist and commentor on affordable fair housing and the impacts of residential segregation. She is a graduate of Howard University School of Law, New York University and Brooklyn College and a member of the Dallas Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

Lisa Rice, President and Chief Executive Officer, National Fair Housing Alliance

Lisa Rice is the President and CEO of the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA), the nation’s only national civil rights agency solely dedicated to eliminating all forms of housing discrimination. Ms. Rice has 35 years of experience in fair housing. Her fair housing and fair lending work began at the local level. Prior to joining NFHA, she was the President and CEO of the Fair Housing Center of Toledo, Ohio and the Northwest Ohio Development Agency. In this role, she developed the state of Ohio’s first Anti-Predatory Lending Remediation Program.

Ms. Rice played a leadership role in bringing many precedent-setting fair housing cases, which have resulted in the elimination of systemic discriminatory policies and practices and the expansion of fair housing opportunities for millions of people. She has also helped to write and pass important legislation to expand protections and expand housing opportunities for consumers including the state of Ohio’s anti-predatory lending statute and the Dodd Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

Ms. Rice is a member of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights Board of Directors, the Center for Responsible Lending Board of Directors, JPMorgan Chase Consumer Advisory Council, Mortgage Bankers Association's Consumer Advisory Council, Freddie Mac Affordable Housing Advisory Council, Urban Institute’s Mortgage Servicing Collaborative, and Quicken Loans Advisory Committee.